Czech-based case goods source Global Home to enter U.S. market

HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam — Global Home, a Czech Republic-based case goods importer that sells primarily to Europe, Australia and New Zealand, is looking to expand to the U.S. market.

The company has named John Routh, who has 25 years of experience sourcing wood product from Asia, as director of sales for North America.

Routh has lived in Vietnam for six years and has spent the past 18 months at case goods producer Starwood Furniture, which has a factory in the Binh Duong Province near Ho Chi Minh City. There, he was vice president of sales and marketing and vice president of quality assurance.

For more than four years before that, he sourced wood product independently out of Vietnam, including youth furniture for some small distributors in California. For 18 years previously, he handled U.S. sales for a factory in China that produced items ranging from jewelry boxes and laundry hampers to changing tables and wall units.

Global Home has been in business since 2006, working with as many as 15 factories in Vietnam to supply bedroom and dining room furniture to customers in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand.

The company is looking start selling in North America this year with a lower middle to middle-priced line of dining room, occasional and some bedroom furniture. Routh said he has been meeting with prospective customers in the U.S. in recent weeks and is ready to begin hiring reps to sell the line.

He said Global Home will offer mostly veneered groups, with oak, ash, cherry and walnut veneers and acacia and rubberwood solids.

The company plans to start shipping to the U.S. market by the fourth quarter. Product will be available on mixed containers from its 215,000-square-foot bonded warehouse in Vietnam and also will be available factory-direct.

Routh reports to Global Home CEO Otto de Jager. De Jager said the company currently ships about $50 million worth of product a year.

"John will be a big help to take Global Home into the U.S. market," he said. "He is based in Vietnam with our international design team and strong QC staff."

In Vietnam, the company operates a 22-person office in the Ho Chi Minh City area and employs another 25 quality control professionals who work with its core factories.

For more information about the company, Routh can be reached at john@globalhomegroup.com